Saturday, January 29, 2011

Update on Arizona Big Corps Have Wide Variance in Amounts of State Corporate Income Tax Rates Paid

In performing a quick review of SEC filings of large corps with an SEC State Location Code in Arizona, I found 6 large corps with Total Core Consolidated Pretax Income of more than $4 bil each, for the most recent 12 years. My definition here of Core Pretax Income excludes large Asset Impairments.

Below here is the effective state and local corporate income tax rates paid, which are computed by dividing the current state corporate income tax paid by the consolidated core pretax income, both in total for the past twelve years for each of these 6 large Arizona Corps. These 6 large Arizona Corps below had a weighted average effective state corporate income tax rate paid of a modest 2.13%, which is a huge 69% discount from the current Arizona state corporate income tax rate of 6.968%.

….……………………....................Current………Core……........State
….……………………......................State……Consolidated..Effective
….……………………................Income Tax…….Pretax…..Income Tax
….…………………….....................Paid……......Income……Rate Paid
….……………….…......................(Millions of Dollars)

..6. Apollo Group.....................518………....6,425…….....8.06%
..5. Pinnacle West Capital……...241....……...4,916……......4.90%
..4. Republic Services..............160………....4,595……......3.48%
..3. Phelps Dodge(1998-2006).108…….......7,900…….....1.37%
..2. Freeport McMoran(07-09)..93…........15,472…….....0.45%
..1. Southern Copper………….......12*……….13,971………..0.09%

Total all 6………......................1,133…........53,279…….....2.13%

* Southern Cooper just disclosed Total Current Federal and State Income Taxes, therefore I estimated Current State Income Taxes based on relative State and Federal Statutory Tax Rates

For the most recent 6 years, the weighted effective state corporate income tax rate paid by these 6 large Arizona Corps was a much lower 1.69%, and for the most recent year was an even lower 1.51%.

Apollo Group’s effective state corporate income tax rate paid of 8.06% is one of the highest of all the large corps I have reviewed throughout the entire country.

And then, below here is a summary of what I call a fair measure of the Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken by the 3 large Arizona Corps with total such tax loopholes of at least $300 mil each for the past twelve years. In estimating what I think is a fair measurement of State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, for ease of computation, I started by multiplying the current Arizona Corporate Income Tax Rate of 6.968% by the total Consolidated Core Pretax Income of each of these 3 Arizona large Corps for the last twelve years. Then, I subtracted the actual total State Income Tax Paid by these 3 Corps for the same twelve years.

……………………….........................AZ…….....State……..Resultant
………………….........….............Corporate..Effective.......Higher
………………….........………….........Tax……..Tax Rate…...State Tax
………………..........…………...........Rate……....Paid…....Last 12 Years
…………………………………………………....................(Millions of dollars)

1.. Freeport McMoran…….......6.968%.......0.60%............985
2.. Southern Copper………….....6.968%.......0.09%............960
3.. Phelps Dodge.....................6.968%.......1.37%.............442

Total of all 3……………………………………2,388 (yeah, $2.4 bil)

The estimated state tax loopholes taken by these 3 large Arizona Corps is also $2.4 bil for the most recent 6 years.

And then here’s an updated list of the 4 Arizona Big Corps with Total Core Pretax Income of more than $5 bil for the most recent 12 years. This list is sorted by Pretax Income.

….…………………….....................Current……...Core…......State&Loc
….……………………...................State&Loc.Consolidated..Effective
….…………………….......................Tax………...Pretax……..Tax Rate
….…………………….......................Paid……....Income……….Paid
….……………….….........................(millions of dollars)
Freeport McMoRan (2007-2009)...93........15,472.......0.60%
Southern Copper.............................13........13,971.......0.09%
Phelps Dodge (1998-2006)............108.........7,900.......1.37%
Apollo Group.................................518.........6,425.......8.06%
AZ Total for all 4 Corps................732.......43,768.......1.67%

And below here is a listing of the 5 Arizona Mid-sized Corps with Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 6 years of at least $2 bil each, but which had Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 12 years of less than $5 bil, and thus weren’t included in the above list of the 4 Very Big Arizona Corps.

........................................Most Recent Six Years
.......................................State&Local.....................Effective
.......................................Corporate........Core......State&Local
..........State.......................Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate
.......Corporations.............Tax Paid.......Income........Paid
...........................................(Millions of Dollars)
Avnet.....................................65............2,737..........2.37%
Republic Services..................101............2,729..........3.70%
Pinnacle West Capital..............88............2,330..........3.78%
Microchip Technology............10............1,856..........0.54%
PetSmart.................................97*..........1,842..........5.27%
AZ Total for all 5..................361..........11,494..........3.14%

* Includes both Current State and Foreign Income Tax Paid or Payable

I think it makes much more sense to balance a State’s severely stressed budget by closing some of the huge Big Corp State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes, rather than by drastically reducing critical state services like education and citizen protection.

Also, I think it makes sense to use some of the funds from the closing of these larger Corp State Income Tax Loopholes to provide some wise, highly stimulative, directly-targeted, job-creating tax incentives to small and medium-sized businesses.

In a very positive development for States like Arizona, I do like it that the Obama Administration seems to be now putting additional pressure on both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to write down the home mortgage loan principal balances of underwater home properties. When you think about it, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now in essence the US government.

The greedy large banks, like Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, still are reluctant to write down their mortgage loan principal balances on underwater properties, particularly so on second mortgages. I think I would reluctantly consider giving these selfish banks a tax incentive to do so, such as a temporary acceleration of their federal income tax loan loss provision deduction. This can be easily structured at no CBO scored cost to the US Government over the ten-year CBO scoring period.

In another very positive development for States like Arizona, the FASB has changed its position on how financial institutions are to carry some of their loans on their balance sheets, switching from a fair market value approach to an amortized cost approach. I think the FASB’s previous accounting position contributed significantly to both the severity of the original US financial crisis, as well as to the extremely prolonged nature of this horrible financial crisis.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Update on Illinois Big Corps Have Paid So Little in State Corporate Income Taxes

In performing a quick review of SEC filings of large corps with an SEC State Location Code in Illinois, I found 22 corps with pretty large State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, as I define them, of at least $300 mil each, for the last dozen years.

Boeing was excluded from the below list, because even though it is now headquartered in Chicago, it has an SEC State Location Code of Washington.

Accenture plc was included. Many years ago, it was part of the Chicago-based Arthur Andersen partnership. It went public in an IPO early in the 2000 decade and switched from a partnership form to Accenture Ltd., a corporation legally based in the tax haven of Bermuda. In 2009, it moved its legal residence from Bermuda to Ireland, another tax haven. It has always had two different Chicago CPA firms as its external auditors. It should be pointed out that in Fortune's ranking of its largest 500 Global firms, from 2005 to 2009, Fortune had Accenture's City listed as New York City.

It is pretty clear that state corporate income tax planning of these large Illinois Corps has been front and center. But the problem here is that this has been very detrimental to the State of Illinois, which is in such desperate financial shape.

Below here is the effective state corporate income tax rates paid, which are computed by dividing the current state corporate income tax paid by the consolidated core pretax income, which are exclusive of both large Asset Impairment Charges and Acquired In Process R&D Charges, in total for the past twelve years for each of these 22 large Illinois Corps. These 22 large Illinois Corps below had a weighted average state corporate effective income tax rate paid of a very modest 2.07%, or a huge 72% discount to Illinois’ 2010 state corporate income tax rate of 7.30%.

….……………………............Current…….Core….........State
….……………………..............State...Consolidated..Effective
….……………………..............Tax……….Pretax………Tax Rate
….……………………..............Paid……..Income……….Paid
….……………….…..............(Millions of Dollars)

22. Exelon........................1,454.......32,057.......4.54%
21. Walgreens………...........1,150…....27,781……..4.14%
20. Tribune(1998-2007).....349……...9,382……..3.72%
19. Fortune Brands..............313.........9,097.......3.44%
18. Discover Fincl Svcs*......305…......9,587……..3.18%
17. Kraft Foods…………......1,488…....47,469....….3.13%
16. AON…………………...........275….....10,034……..2.74%
15. Illinois Tool Works........509……..21,129……....2.41%
14. McDonalds……............1,029…....44,647……...2.30%
13. Sears Holdings…............474……..23,910……...1.98%
12. Motorola………………......258……..13,907………1.86%
11. Archer Daniels Midland.309….....17,567……...1.76%
10. Accenture plc(00-09)...345........20,724........1.66%
..9. Deere…..........................279……..19,540……...1.43%
..8. Northern Trust...............131….....10,176……...1.29%
..7. Wrigley(1998-2007).......75……….6,302……...1.19%
..6. Abbott Labs...................619……..52,542……...1.18%
..5. Caterpillar…………..........315……...30,412……...1.04%
..4. Baxter……......................161……....18,596……...0.87%
..3. Sara Lee.........................70..........13,083........0.54%
..1. Old Republic Intl...............0...........4,318........0.00%
..1. Allstate.............................0.........36,823........0.00%

Total all 22………..............9,908…....479,083……...2.07%

* Information for just the five years 2004-2009

For the most recent six years, the weighted state corporate effective income tax rate paid by these 22 large Illinois corps was an even lower 1.90%.

Three additional Corps (WW Grainger, CME Group, and RR Donnelley) were excluded from the above list of Illinois Big Corps, even though they generated Total Pretax Income for the past 12 years of more than $5 bil. These three Corps were excluded because their Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken were less than $300 mil each.

And then, below here is a summary of what I call a fair measure of the Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken by each of these 22 large Illinois Corps for the past twelve years. In estimating what I think is a fair measurement of State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, for ease of computation, I started by multiplying the 2010 Illinois Corporate Income Tax Rate of 7.30% by the total Consolidated Core Pretax Income of each large Illinois Corp for the last twelve years. Then, I subtracted the actual total State, and in some cases also Local, Corporate Income Taxes Paid by each of these Corps for the same twelve years.

………………………...............IL 2010........State……....Resultant
………………….........….........Corporate…Effective.......Higher
………………….........………….....Tax……..Tax Rate…...State Tax
………………..........………….......Rate……....Paid…....Last 12 Years
…………………………………………………...................(Millions of dollars)

1. Abbott Labs………….......…7.30%.......1.18%...........3,217
2. Allstate............................7.30%......0.00%...........2,688
3. McDonalds………….........…7.30%.......2.30%..........2,230
4. Kraft Foods......………………7.30%.......3.13%..........1,977
5. Caterpillar……………..........7.30%.......1.04%..........1,905
6. Sears Holdings……………....7.30%.......1.98%...........1,271
7. Baxter………..………............7.30%.......0.87%..........1,197
8. Accenture plc...................7.30%.......1.66%...........1,168
9. Deere…………………………....7.30%.......1.43%...........1,147
10. Illinois Tool Works....……7.30%.......2.41%..........1,033
11. Archer Daniels Midland…7.30%.......1.76%............973
12. Exelon............................7.30%.......4.54%............886
13. Sara Lee..........................7.30%........0.54%...........885
14. Walgreens........…………....7.30%.......4.14%............878
15. Motorola………………….....7.30%.......1.86%............757
16. Northern Trust………….....7.30%.......1.29%............612
17. AON…....………………….......7.30%......2.74%............457
18. Discover Fincl Svcs...........7.30%......3.18%............395
19. Wrigley…………………….......7.30%.......1.19%...........385
20. Fortune Brands................7.30%.......3.44%............351
21. Tribune……………...............7.30%......3.72%............336
22. Old Republic Intl..............7.30%.......0.00%...........315

Total all 22………………………………………25,065 (yeah, $25.1 bil)

For the most recent six years, the estimated total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken was $15.8 bil, as compared to $25.1 bil for the past twelve years.

And then here’s an updated list of the 24 Illinois Big Corps with Total Core Pretax Income of more than $5 bil for the most recent 12 years. This list is sorted by Pretax Income.

….…………………….....................Current……...Core…......State&Loc
….……………………...................State&Loc.Consolidated..Effective
….…………………….......................Tax………...Pretax……..Tax Rate
….…………………….......................Paid……....Income……….Paid
….……………….….........................(millions of dollars)
Abbott Labs.................................619........52,542.......1.18%
Kraft Foods...............................1,488........47,469.......3.13%
McDonalds................................1,029........44,647.......2.30%
Allstate............................................0........36,823.......0.00%
Exelon.......................................1,454........32,057.......4.54%
Caterpillar....................................315.........30,412.......1.04%
Walgreens..................................1,150........27,781.......4.14%
Sears Holdings..............................474........23,910.......1.98%
Illinois Tool Works........................509........21,129.......2.41%
Accenture plc(2000-2009)...........345.......20,724.......1.66%
Deere.............................................279.......19,540.......1.43%
Baxter............................................161........18,596.......0.87%
Archers Daniel Midland.................309........17,567.......1.76%
Motorola........................................258........13,907.......1.86%
Sara Lee...........................................70........13,083.......0.54%
Northern Trust...............................131........10,176.......1.29%
Aon...............................................275........10,034.......2.74%
Discover Fincl Services(04-09)......305.........9,587.......3.18%
Tribune(1998-2007)......................349.........9,382.......3.72%
Fortune Brands...............................313.........9,097.......3.44%
William Wrigley(1998-2007)............75.........6,302.......1.19%
WW Grainger...................................342.........5,856.......5.84%
CME Group.....................................454..........5,815.......7.81%
RR Donnelley..................................256..........5,246.......4.88%
IL Total for all 24 Corps...........10,960......491,682.......2.23%

And below here is a listing of the 7 Illinois Mid-sized Corps with Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 6 years of at least $2 bil each, but which had Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 12 years of less than $5 bil, and thus weren’t included in the above list of the 24 Very Big Illinois Corps.

........................................Most Recent Six Years
.......................................State&Local.....................Effective
.......................................Corporate........Core......State&Local
..........State.......................Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate
.......Corporations.............Tax Paid.......Income........Paid
...........................................(Millions of Dollars)
CNA Financial.........................0............3,174..........0.00%
CF Industries........................79............2,752..........2.87%
CNH Global NV*......................0**........2,726..........0.10%
Telephone & Data Systems...110............2,676..........4.11%
United States Cellular............61............2,085..........2.93%
Hospira.................................30............2,040..........1.47%
Pactiv....................................28............2,035..........1.38%
IL Total for all 7................308..........17,488...........1.76%

* CNH Global is a Netherlands Corp, but with both an SEC Business and Mailing Address in Burr Ridge, IL
** No mention of State Income Tax Paid, therefore it was assumed none were paid

When you review the above two lists of the 31 Big and Mid-sized Illinois Corps, you have to be very impressed with the quality and superb financial performance.

But this strong financial performance is but a drop in the bucket in comparison to what has been going on with US Big Oil and Gas Corps. There has been a massive income shift in the past decade from non-Big Oil and Gas Corps to Big Oil and Gas Corps, which has been devastating to all non-Big Oil and Gas businesses.

To illustrate how this massive income shift in the past decade has applied to Illinois, there were 19 Very Profitable Illinois non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps, from the above list of 24, which were in existence for the entire past 12 years. The Total Core Pretax Income for these 19 Illinois non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps of $79.3 bil for the most recent two years was up 41% from the $56.3 bil earned a decade earlier.

On the other hand, the 35 US Oil and Gas Big Corps, 25 of which are based in Texas, generated Core Pretax Earnings of $373.7 bil for the most recent two years, which was an incredible 712% increase from the $46.0 bil earned a decade earlier. I'm not kidding!

Clearly, it would be wise for the US government to take action that would reverse this horrible income shift trend, which has severely damaged not just more than 95% of US businesses, but has also devastated US individuals, and all of federal, state and local governments. Not only has it resulted in much higher US unemployment, much higher US underemployment, and lower median US wages, but it also has resulted in a substantially higher portion of a family's take-home pay being used to pay for energy costs than that of a decade ago.

I think it only makes sense for the US government to eliminate the many massive tax loopholes that are granted to Big Oil and Gas Corps to reward them for generating these windfall profits. And the money raised here should be given as wise, lucrative tax incentives to all US businesses that effectively reduce their energy costs.

Such a tax plan, is a ten-fer:
.....higher US real GDP growth
.....lower US unemployment
.....lower US underemployment
.....higher US median wages
.....lower portion of take-home pay needed to fund energy costs
.....higher after-tax corporate profits for more than 95% of US businesses
.....significant reduction in the US deficit
.....better State government coffers
.....more competitive US firms
.....and a huge step toward US becoming energy independent

Now on to updating some other States.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Update on Pennsylvania Big Corps Have Paid Modest Amounts of State Corporate Income Taxes

In performing a quick review of SEC filings of large corps with an SEC State Location Code in Pennsylvania, I found 17 Corps with pretty large State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, at least the way I measure them, in the last dozen years.

ACE, Ltd. was included in the below list. It was established in the Cayman Islands tax haven jurisdiction, with HQs located in Bermuda. In 2008, it was relocated to Switzerland. PriceWaterhouseCooper's Philadelphia office has been its external CPA firm for its financial statements from 2005 on. Previously, its external CPA firm was PriceWaterhouseCooper's New York office.

Tyco Electronics, Ltd was also included in the below list. It is now a Swiss Corp. It was previously a Bermuda Corp. Its CPA firm is in Philly. The amounts for it below are just for the six years 2004-2009.

Below here is the effective state corporate income tax rates paid, which are computed by dividing the current state corporate income tax paid by the consolidated core pretax income, which are exclusive of large Asset Impairments, both in total for the past twelve years for each of these 17 large Pennsylvania Corps. These 17 large Pennsylvania Corps below had a weighted average state corporate effective income tax rate paid of a very modest 1.98%, or a huge 80% discount to Pennsylvania’s current state corporate income tax rate of 9.99%.

….……………………............Current…….Core............State
….……………………..............State...Consolidated..Effective
….……………………..............Tax……….Pretax………Tax Rate
….……………………..............Paid……..Income……….Paid
….……………….…..............(Millions of Dollars)

17. Sunoco………................452…......8,819……...5.13%
16. Comcast(2000-2009)..956…….23,671……...4.04%
15. Amerisource Bergen....248…......7,148……...3.47%
14. Hershey..…………..........249….....7,503.....….3.32%
13. PPG Industries.............334…....10,675……...3.13%
12. Mellon Financial..........323…....10,810……...2.99%
11. PNC Financial Svcs…....521…….23,367……...2.23%
10. PPL…...........................222…….10,496……...2.12%
..9. US Steel……………...........97…......5,497……...1.76%
..8. Cigna...........................229……..16,190……...1.41%
..7. Air Products & Chems..129........10,164.….....1.27%
..6. HJ Heinz......................149……..12,707……...1.17%
..5. Rohm&Haas(98-08)......60………..6,392……...0.94%
..4. Alcoa…………...............177……...24,115……...0.73%
..3. Tyco Electronics, Ltd....13...........6,834.........0.19%
..1. Lincoln National.............0*……...8,742……...0.00%
..1. ACE, Ltd.........................0*........16,426.........0.00%

Total all 17……….............4,159…...209,556……...1.98%

* I assumed no state income tax was paid, since there was nothing disclosed about it.

For the most recent year, the weighted state corporate effective income tax rate paid by these large Pennsylvania Corps was a much lower 0.55%.

And then, below here is a summary of what I call a fair measure of the Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken by each of these 17 large Pennsylvania Corps for the past twelve years. In estimating what I think is a fair measurement of State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, for ease of computation, I started by multiplying the current Pennsylvania Corporate Income Tax Rate of 9.99% by the total Consolidated Core Pretax Income of each large Pennsylvania Corp for the last twelve years. Then, I subtracted the actual total State, and in some cases also Local, Corporate Income Taxes Paid by each of these Corps for the same twelve years.


……………………….....................PA……......State……..Resultant
………………….........….........Corporate…Effective.......Higher
………………….........………….....Tax……..Tax Rate…...State Tax
………………..........………….......Rate……....Paid…....Last 12 Years
…………………………………………………...................(Millions of dollars)

1.. Alcoa………….......…………..9.99%......0.73%...........2,232
2.. PNC Financial Services....9.99%.......2.23%...........1,813
3.. Comcast…………….............9.99%......4.04%...........1,409
4.. Cigna......……………………...9.99%.......1.41%...........1,388
5.. ACE, Ltd..........................9.99%.......0.00%..........1,150
6.. HJ Heinz…………….............9.99%.......1.17%..........1,120
7.. Air Products & Chemicals.9.99%.......1.27%.............886
8.. Lincoln National......………9.99%.......0.00%............873
9.. PPL………………………….......9.99%.......2.12%.............827
10. Mellon Financial……........9.99%.......2.99%............757
11. PPG Industries....…………..9.99%.......3.13%.............732
12. Tyco Electronics, Ltd.......9.99%.......0.19%.............670
13. Rohm & Haas………….........9.99%.......0.94%.............579
14. Hershey…………………........9.99%.......3.32%.............501
15. Amerisource Bergen.........9.99%......3.47%.............466
16. US Steel……………………......9.99%.......1.76%.............452
17. Sunoco..............................9.99%.......5.13%.............429

Total all 17…………………………………………16,285 (yeah, $16.3 bil)

For the most recent six years, the estimated total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken was $10.8 bil, as compared to $16.3 bil for the past twelve years.

And below here is a listing of the 10 Pennsylvania Mid-sized Corps with Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 6 years of at least $2 bil each, but which had Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 12 years of less than $5 bil, and thus weren’t included in the above list of the 17 Very Big Pennsylvania Corps.

.............................................Most Recent Six Years
............................................State&Local....(PTI).........Effective
............................................Corporate........Core......State&Local
..........State............................Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate
.......Corporations..................Tax Paid.......Income........Paid
................................................(Millions of Dollars)
Allegheny Technologies...............82.............3,283.........2.50%
CONSOL Energy..........................108.............3,232.........3.34%
Allegheny Energy.........................50.............2,748.........1.82%
American Eagle Outfitters...........133.............2,638.........5.04%
UGI.............................................112.............2,602.........4.30%
SEI Investments...........................36.............2,370.........1.52%
EQT...............................................19.............2,259.........0.84%
Mylan Labs...................................90.............2,213.........4.07%
Universal Health Services.............83.............2,079.........3.99%
Endo Pharmaceuticals..................56..............2,020.........2.77%
PA Total for all 10.....................769............25,444.........3.02%

When you review the above two lists of the 27 Very Big and Mid-sized Pennsylvania Corps, you have to be impressed with the quality and superb financial performance.

But this strong financial performance is but a drop in the bucket in comparison to what has been going on with US Big Oil and Gas Corps. There has been a massive income shift in the past decade from non-Big Oil and Gas Corps to Big Oil and Gas Corps, which has been devastating to all non-Big Oil and Gas businesses.

To illustrate how this massive income shift in the past decade has applied to Pennsylvania, the Total Core Pretax Income for the above 17 Pennslyvania Most Profitable Very Big Corps of $35.5 bil for the most recent two years was up 37% from the $25.9 bil earned a decade earlier. Also, there were 11 Most Profitable Very Big Pennsylvania non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps, from the above list of 17, which were in existence for the entire past 12 years. The Total Core Pretax Income for these 11 Pennslyvania non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps of $22.0 bil for the most recent two years was up only 4% from the $21.2 bil earned a decade earlier.

On the other hand, the 35 US Oil and Gas Big Corps, 25 of which are based in Texas, generated Core Pretax Earnings of $373.7 bil for the most recent two years, which was an incredible 712% increase from the $46.0 bil earned a decade earlier. I'm not kidding!

Clearly, it would be wise for the US government to take action that would reverse this horrible income shift trend, which has severely damaged not just more than 95% of US businesses, but has also devastated US individuals, and all of federal, state and local governments. Not only has it resulted in much higher US unemployment, much higher US underemployment, and lower median US wages, but it also has resulted in a substantially higher portion of a family's take-home pay being used to pay for energy costs than that of a decade ago.

I think it only makes sense for the US government to eliminate the many massive tax loopholes that are granted to Big Oil and Gas Corps to reward them for generating these windfall profits. And the money raised here should be given as wise, lucrative tax incentives to all US businesses that effectively reduce their energy costs.

Such a tax plan, is a ten-fer:
.....higher US real GDP growth
.....lower US unemployment
.....lower US underemployment
.....higher US median wages
.....lower portion of take-home pay needed to fund energy costs
.....higher after-tax corporate profits for more than 95% of US businesses
.....significant reduction in the US deficit
.....better State government coffers
.....more competitive US firms
.....and a huge step toward US becoming energy independent

Now on to updating Illinois, and then to other parts of the Midwest.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Update on New Jersey Big Corps Have Paid Modest Amounts of State Corporate Income Taxes

In performing a quick review of SEC filings of large corps with an SEC State Location Code in New Jersey, I found 16 New Jersey Corps that had both Total Core Pretax Income above $5 bil, and also Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, at least the way I measure them, of at least $200 mil each, in the last dozen years.

My definition of Core Pretax Income here excludes very large Asset Impairment Charges, particularly from Goodwill Impairment, and also excludes very large Acquired In Process Research and Development Charges.

Below here is the effective state and local corporate income tax rates paid, which are computed by dividing the current state and local corporate income tax paid by the consolidated Core Pretax Income, both in total for the past twelve years for each of these 16 Big New Jersey Corps. These 16 Big New Jersey Corps below had a weighted average state and local corporate effective income tax rate paid of a very modest 2.09%, or a huge 77% discount to New Jersey’s current state statutory corporate income tax rate of 9.00%.

….…………………….....................Current…………………...State&Loc
….…………………….................State&Loc..Consolidated..Effective
….…………………….......................Tax……….Pretax………Tax Rate
….…………………….......................Paid……..Income……….Paid
….……………….…......................(Millions of Dollars)
16. Public Service Entrpr Grp.1,298……....17,591……...7.31%
15. Bed Bath & Beyond..............330…........7,349……...4.49%
14. NRG Energy……...................287…........7,201....…..3.99%
13. Automatic Data Processing..527.........18,616…......2.83%
12. Merck..............................2,703….....107,889*…....2.51%
11. JNJ…...............................2,980**....134,152*….....2.22%
10. Ingersoll-Rand, plc***………196**……..9,898*….....1.98%
..9. Campbell Soup....................232…….....12,192……...1.90%
..8. AT&T(1998-2004)..............710..........38,045........1.87%
..7. Honeywell..........................406…….....25,881*…...1.57%
..6. Prudential Financial............351……....24,585……...1.43%
..5. Becton Dickinson.................145……....10,413……...1.39%
..4. Schering-Plough(98-2008)..258.........19,749*.…...1.31%
..3. Tyco Intl, Ltd****…………....275………27,031*……..1.02%
..2. Wyeth(1998-2009)...............88……....34,285……...0.26%
..1. Chubb.....................................0….......20,513.…….0.00%

Total all 16………..................10,774….....515,390……..2.09%

* Excludes large Asset Impairment Charges, particularly related to Goodwill Impairment, and also excludes large Acquired In Process Research and Development Charges
** Current and Deferred State Income Tax Combined…..JNJ didn’t disclose its Current State Income Tax Paid separately, which should be markedly lower than the above $2,980 mil combined amount
***Ingersoll-Rand is presently an Ireland Corp, was previously a Bermuda Corp, and has a mailing address in New Jersey
****Tyco International, Ltd is presently a Swiss Corp, was previously a Bermuda Corp, and has a New Jersey mailing address

For the most recent 2009 year, the weighted average state and local corporate effective income tax rate paid by these Big New Jersey Corps was an even lower 2.04%.

Two additional Corps (Medco Health Solutions and Quest Diagnostics) were excluded from the above list of New Jersey Big Corps, even though they generated Total Pretax Income for the past 12 years of more than $5 bil. These two Corps were excluded because their Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken were less than $200 mil each.

And then, below here is a summary of what I call a fair measure of the Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken by each of these 16 Big New Jersey Corps for the past twelve years. In estimating what I think is a fair measurement of State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, for ease of computation, I started by multiplying the current New Jersey Statutory Corporate Income Tax Rate of 9.00% by the total Consolidated Pretax Income of each Big New Jersey Corp for the last twelve years. Then, I subtracted the actual total State and Local Corporate Income Taxes Paid by each of these Corps for the same twelve years.

……………………….........................NJ…….State&Loc....Resultant
………………….........….............Corporate..Effective.......Higher
………………….........………….........Tax……..Tax Rate….State&Loc Tax
………………..........…………...........Rate……....Paid…....Last 12 Years
…………………………………………………....................(Millions of dollars)
1.. JNJ………….......…………........9.00%.......2.22%...........9,094
2.. Merck.................................9.00%.......2.51%...........7,007
3.. Wyeth……….........................9.00%.......0.26%..........2,998
4.. AT&T..................................9.00%........1.87%..........2,714
5.. Tyco International, Ltd…….9.00%........1.02%..........2,158
6.. Honeywell…………................9.00%.......1.57%...........1,923
7.. Prudential Financial………....9.00%.......1.43%...........1,862
8.. Chubb…………………..............9.00%.......0.00%..........1,846
9.. Schering-Plough......………….9.00%.......1.31%...........1,519
10. Automatic Data Processing..9.00%.......2.83%...........1,148
11. Campbell Soup……..............9.00%.......1.90%..............865
12. Becton Dickinson………….....9.00%.......1.39%..............792
13. Ingersoll-Rand, plc…………..9.00%.......1.98%..............695
14. NRG Energy……...................9.00%.......3.99%..............361
15. Bed Bath & Beyond…...........9.00%.......4.49%..............331
16. Public Service Entrpr Grp...9.00%.......7.31%..............297

Total all 16………………………………………35,611 (yeah, $35.6 bil)

For the most recent six years, the estimated total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken by these 16 New Jersey Big Corps was $19.4 bil, as compared to $35.6 bil for the past twelve years.

And then here’s an updated list of the 18 New Jersey Big Corps with Total Core Pretax Income of more than $5 bil for the most recent 12 years. This list is sorted by Pretax Income.

….…………………….....................Current……...Core…......State&Loc
….……………………...................State&Loc.Consolidated..Effective
….…………………….......................Tax………...Pretax……..Tax Rate
….…………………….......................Paid……....Income……….Paid
….……………….….........................(millions of dollars)
JNJ...........................................2,980.......134,152.......2.22%
Merck.......................................2,703.......107,889.......2.51%
AT&T............................................710........38,045.......1.87%
Wyeth(1998-2008)........................88.........34,285.......0.26%
Tyco International, Ltd................275........27,031.......1.02%
Honeywell....................................406........25,881.......1.57%
Prudential Financial......................351........24,585.......1.43%
Chubb...............................................0........20,513......0.00%
Schering-Plough(1998-2008)........258........19,749.......1.31%
Automatic Data Processing...........527........18,616.......2.83%
Public Service Enterprise Group.1,286........17,591.......7.31%
Campbell Soup..............................232.........12,192.......1.90%
Medco Health Solutions.................912........10,815.......8.43%
Becton Dickinson...........................145........10,413.......1.39%
Ingersoll-Rand, plc........................196.........9,898.......1.98%
Quest Diagnostics..........................531.........7,872.......6.75%
Bed Bath & Beyond........................330.........7,349.......4.49%
NRG Energy..................................287.........7,201.......3.99%
NJ Total for all 18 Corps.........12,217.....534,077.......2.29%

And below here is a listing of the 9 New Jersey Mid-sized Corps with Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 6 years of at least $2 bil each, but which had Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 12 years of less than $5 bil, and thus weren’t included in the above list of the 18 most profitable, Very Big New Jersey Corps.

.............................................Most Recent Six Years
............................................State&Local....(PTI).........Effective
............................................Corporate........Core......State&Local
..........State............................Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate
.......Corporations..................Tax Paid.......Income........Paid
................................................(Millions of Dollars)

Wyndham Worldwide..................21.............3,442.........0.61%
Hudson City Bancorp................177.............3,374.........5.25%
Everest Re Group, Ltd**...............0.............3,154.........0.00%
Lucent(2004-2006).................(28).............3,149........(0.89)%
C R Bard......................................65.............3,016.........2.16%
Dun & Bradstreet.........................88.............2,382.........3.69%
Celgene......................................196.............2,214.........8.85%
Cognizant Technology Solutions..53*............2,151.........2.46%
Sealed Air....................................64.............2,108.........3.04%
NJ Total for all 9......................636...........24,990.........2.55%

* Includes both State Current Income Taxes and State Deferred Income Tax Expense
** Bermuda Corp, but with New Jersey mailing address and New York CPA firm

Now let me take it to the next level of Mid-sized New Jersey publicly-held Corps. Below are the 3 New Jersey Corps with Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 6 years of between $1.5 and $2.0 bil, and which were not already included in the above 18 most profitable, Very Big New Jersey Corps.


.......................................................................................Core
......................................................................................Pretax
New Jersey Corp(Industry)...........................................Income
...................................................................................(mils of $s)

Trane*(Heating&Air Conditioning Equipment)……………..1,924
Foster Wheeler AG**(Heavy Construction)………………....1,678
Commerce Bancorp 2004-2007(Banking)…………………...1,538

* Now owned by Ingersoll-Rand, plc
** Swiss Corp now, previously a Bermuda Corp, with a New Jersey mailing address

When you review the above three lists of the 30 Big and Mid-sized New Jersey Corps, you have to be very impressed with the quality and superb financial performance.

But this strong financial performance is but a drop in the bucket in comparison to what has been going on with US Big Oil and Gas Corps. There has been a massive income shift in the past decade from non-Big Oil and Gas Corps to Big Oil and Gas Corps, which has been devastating to all non-Big Oil and Gas businesses.

To illustrate how this massive income shift in the past decade has applied to New Jersey, there were 15 Very Profitable New Jersey non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps, from the above list of 18, which were in existence for the entire past 12 years. The Total Core Pretax Income for these 15 New Jersey non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps of $97.6 bil for the most recent two years was up 55% from the $62.9 bil earned a decade earlier.

On the other hand, the 35 US Oil and Gas Big Corps, 25 of which are based in Texas, generated Core Pretax Earnings of $373.7 bil for the most recent two years, which was an incredible 712% increase from the $46.0 bil earned a decade earlier. I'm not kidding!

Clearly, it would be wise for the US government to take action that would reverse this horrible income shift trend, which has severely damaged not just more than 95% of US businesses, but has also devastated US individuals, and all of federal, state and local governments. Not only has it resulted in much higher US unemployment, much higher US underemployment, and lower median US wages, but it also has resulted in a substantially higher portion of a family's take-home pay being used to pay for energy costs than that of a decade ago.

I think it only makes sense for the US government to eliminate the many massive tax loopholes that are granted to Big Oil and Gas Corps to reward them for generating these windfall profits. And the money raised here should be given as wise, lucrative tax incentives to all US businesses that effectively reduce their energy costs.

Such a tax plan, is a ten-fer:
.....higher US real GDP growth
.....lower US unemployment
.....lower US underemployment
.....higher US median wages
.....lower portion of take-home pay needed to fund energy costs
.....higher after-tax corporate profits for more than 95% of US businesses
.....significant reduction in the US deficit
.....better State government coffers
.....more competitive US firms
.....and a huge step toward US becoming energy independent

Now on to updating Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Georgia and Indiana.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Update on New York Big Corps Have Paid Modest Amounts of State Corporate Income Taxes

In performing a quick review of SEC filings of large corps with an SEC State Location Code in New York, I found 37 New York Corps that had both Total Core Pretax Income above $5 bil, and also Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, at least the way I measure them, of at least $200 mil each, in the last dozen years.

My definition of Core Pretax Income here excludes very large Asset Impairment Charges, particularly from Goodwill Impairment, and also excludes very large Acquired In Process Research and Development Charges.

I excluded two very large companies from this list which Fortune Magazine says are headquartered in New York (Alcoa and Travelers), because their SEC State Location Codes were in Pennsylvania and Minnesota, respectively.

Health Insurance company Assurant generated Total Pretax Income in excess of $5 bil in the past 12 years. However, it was excluded from the below list of New York Big Corps because it didn't disclose its State Income Tax information for all years.

Below here is the effective state and local corporate income tax rates paid, which are computed by dividing the current state and local corporate income tax paid by the consolidated Core Pretax Income, both in total for the past twelve years for each of these 37 Big New York Corps. These 37 Big New York Corps below had a weighted average state and local corporate effective income tax rate paid of a very modest 2.47%, or a 65% discount to New York’s current state corporate income tax rate of 7.10%. This discount would be even significantly higher if the New York City Statutory Corporate Income Tax rate were added to the 7.10% New York State Statutory Corporate Income Tax Rate. Many of these 37 huge New York Corps are headquartered in New York City.

….……………………..........................Current…………………..State&Loc
….……………………......................State&Loc.Consolidated..Effective
….……………………............................Tax……….Pretax………...Tax
….……………………............................Paid……..Income……….Rate
….……………….…............................(Millions of Dollars)

37. Bank of New York Mellon........1,183……..21,569……...5.48%
36. Viacom (2003-2009)……….......828……...15,544……...5.33%
35. Marsh & McLennan………..........628……....13,961……..4.50%
34. Time Warner (1999-2009).....1,237........28,134*.......4.40%
33. Time Warner Cable (2003-09)..445........10,558*.......4.21%
32. Verizon Communications......5,372…….133,814……...4.01%
31. Loews………………......................849.……..21,180*……..4.01%
30. Morgan Stanley…………..........2,652……..67,759……...3.91%
29. JP Morgan Chase………...........4,289…....121,908……..3.52%
28. L-3 Communications….............241………..7,400………3.26%
27. Altria Group……………............4,371…....143,203……..3.05%
26. Pepsi Bottling…………………........203……....7,055*…….2.88%
25. Goldman Sachs…………...........2,553……...90,605……..2.82%
24. Paychex………………………..........178…….....6,476………2.75%
23. Citigroup…............................4,081….....149,636*……2.73%
22. North Fork Banc(1998-2005)...122**….....5,104……..2.39%
21. American Express………….........990….......45,364……..2.18%
20. M&T Bank………........................175…….......8,962……..1.95%
19. Estee Lauder…….......................128…..........6,662……..1.92%
18. Omnicom Group…………….........248…........13,525....….1.83%
17. Consolidated Edison…………......242…........13,344……..1.81%
16. News Corp (2002-2009)...........577…….....31,894*……1.81%
15. Forest Labs……….......................138……........8,691…….1.59%
14. Pfizer……................................1,920…......123,204*…..1.56%
13. Cendant (1998-2005)……….......118……........8,110………1.45%
12. Dover……………............................92…….......6,493……..1.42%
11. PepsiCo…………..........................868……......63,882……..1.36%
10. XL Capital, Ltd***……………........67……........5,324*..….1.26%
..9. Colgate-Palmolive….................286**….....24,982……...1.14%
..8. MetLife....................................309……......28,117……...1.10%
..7. IBM.......................................1,510……....147,733…….1.02%
..6. Bristol Myers Squibb................392**..…....51,633*..…0.76%
..5. Avon Products…………................66…….......10,150…….0.65%
..4. ITT……........................................16……….....6,779……..0.24%
..3. Bunge, Ltd**** (2001-2009)….....0……….....6,252……..0.00%
..2. Phillip Morris Intl (2007-09)....(15)…….....28,064…….(0.05)%
..1. Hess……….................................(123)……....22,786*…..(0.54)%

Total all 37……….........................37,236…..1,505,857……..2.47%

* Excludes large Asset Impairment Charges, particularly Goodwill Impairment Charges, and/or Acquired In Process Research and Development Charges
** Includes both State Corporate Income Tax Paid amounts and Deferred Income Tax Expense; these companies decided to not disclose the amount of their State Income Tax Paid, which should be markedly lower than the above combined amounts shown.
*** XL Capital, Ltd is presently an Ireland Corp; previously a Cayman Islands Corp; its CPA firm was based in New York City
**** Bunge, Ltd is presently a Bermuda Corp, but with an SEC Location Code in NY. It had no State Income Tax disclosure, thus I assumed none was paid

For the most recent 2009 year, the weighted average state and local corporate effective income tax rate paid by these Big New York Corps was an even lower 2.12%.

Eight additional Corps were excluded from the above list of New York Big Corps, even though they generated Total Pretax Income for the past 12 years of more than $5 bil. These eight Corps were excluded because their Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken were less than $200 mil each. These eight Corps were CBS, Bear Stearns, McGraw-Hill, Moody's, Coach, KeySpan, BlackRock, and Eastman Kodak.

And then, below here is a summary of what I call a fair measure of the Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken by each of these 37 Big New York Corps for the past twelve years. In estimating what I think is a fair measurement of State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, for ease of computation, I started by multiplying the current New York Statutory Corporate Income Tax Rate of 7.10% by the total Consolidated Pretax Income of each Big New York Corp for the last twelve years. Then, I subtracted the actual total State and Local Corporate Income Taxes Paid by each of these Corps for the same twelve years. I have excluded from the 7.10% NY Statutory Corporate Income Tax Rate, the NY City Statutory Corporate Income Tax Rate. If this NY City Corporate Income Tax Rates were included, the amounts of total New York Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken would be substantially higher than what is shown below. Many of these Big New York Corps are headquartered in New York City.

……………………….........................NY…......State&Loc……Resultant
………………….........….............Corporate…...Effective.......Higher
………………….........…………..........Tax……....Tax Rate..State&Loc Tax
………………..........…………...........Rate……........Paid…...Last 12 Years
………………………………………………….................................(mils of $s)

..1. IBM………….......…………….....7.10%..........1.02%............8,979
..2. Pfizer……………...........……....7.10%..........1.56%............6,827
..3. Citigroup………….........………7.10%..........2.73%............6,543
..4. Altria Group......……….........7.10%..........3.05%............5,796
..5. JP Morgan Chase…………......7.10%..........3.52%............4,366
..6. Verizon Communications…..7.10%..........4.01%...........4,129
..7. Goldman Sachs…….......……..7.10%..........2.82%...........3,880
..8. PepsiCo…………......………......7.10%..........1.36%...........3,668
..9. Bristol Myers Squibb………...7.10%..........0.76%...........3,274
10. American Express……………..7.10%..........2.18%...........2,231
11. Morgan Stanley……........…….7.10%..........3.91%...........2,159
12. Phillip Morris International.7.10%........(0.05)%..........2,008
13. Hess…………………………….......7.10%........(0.54)%..........1,741
14. News Corp………….......………..7.10%.........1.81%............1,687
15. MetLife………………………….....7.10%..........1.10%...........1,687
16. Colgate-Palmolive…………......7.10%.........1.14%............1,488
17. Time Warner........................7.10%.........4.40%..............761
18. Omnicom Group…......………..7.10%.........1.83%...............712
19. Consolidated Edison……….....7.10%.........1.81%...............705
20. Loews…………......……………...7.10%..........4.01%..............655
21. Avon Products……………….....7.10%.........0.65%..............655
22. Forest Labs………….....………..7.10%..........1.59%..............479
23. ITT……………………………........7.10%..........0.24%..............465
24. M&T Bank…………………….......7.10%.........1.95%...............461
25. Cendant…………………………….7.10%..........1.45%..............458
26. Bunge, Ltd………………………...7.10%.........0.00%..............444
27. Dover………………………….......7.10%..........1.42%..............369
28. Marsh & McLennan…………....7.10%.........4.50%..............363
29. Bank of New York Mellon…...7.10%..........5.48%..............348
30. Estee Lauder……………………..7.10%….......1.92%...............345
31. XL Capital, Ltd…………………..7.10%...........1.26%...............311
32. Time Warner Cable...............7.10%..........4.21%...............305
33. Pepsi Bottling…………………....7.10%..........2.88%...............298
34. L-3 Communications………….7.10%..........3.26%...............284
35. Paychex………………………......7.10%..........2.75%...............282
36. Viacom……………………….......7.10%..........5.33%................276
37. North Fork Bancorp…………..7.10%..........2.39%...............240
Total all 37………………………………………69,680 (yeah, $69.7 bil)

For the most recent six years, the estimated total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken by these 37 New York Big Corps was $41.2 bil, as compared to $69.7 bil for the past twelve years.

And then here’s an updated list of the 45 New York Big Corps with Total Core Pretax Income of more than $5 bil for the most recent 12 years. This list is sorted by Pretax Income.

….…………………….................Current……....Core…......State&Loc
….……………………...............State&Loc..Consolidated..Effective
….……………………...................Tax………....Pretax……..Tax Rate
….……………………...................Paid…….....Income……….Paid
….……………….….....................(millions of dollars)

Citigroup.............................4,081..........149,636.......2.73%
IBM.....................................1,510..........147,733.......1.02%
Altria Group........................4,371..........143,203.......3.05%
Verizon Communications....5,372..........133,814.......4.01%
Pfizer...................................1,920..........123,204.......1.56%
JP Morgan Chase.................4,289...........121,908.......3.52%
Goldman Sachs....................2,553............90,605.......2.82%
Morgan Stanley...................2,652............67,759.......3.91%
PepsiCo..................................868............63,882.......1.36%
Bristol Myers Squibb..............392............51,633.......0.76%
American Express..................990............45,364.......2.18%
News Corp(2002-2009)..........577...........31,894.......1.81%
Time Warner(1999-2009).....1,237...........28,134.......4.40%
MetLife...................................309............28,117.......1.10%
Phillip Morris Intl(2007-09)..(15)............28,064......(0.05)%
Colgate-Palmolive...................286............24,982.......1.14%
Hess......................................(123)............22,786......(0.54)%
Bank of New York Mellon......1,183............21,569.......5.48%
Loews......................................849............21,180.......4.01%
CBS........................................1,299...........19,295........6.73%
Viacom(2003-2009)................828...........15,544.......5.33%
Bear Stearns(1998-2007).......1,184...........14,885.......7.95%
Marsh & McLennan...................628...........13,961.......4.50%
Omnicom Group.......................248...........13,525.......1.83%
Consolidated Edison.................242...........13,344.......1.81%
McGraw-Hill.............................819...........12,712.......6.44%
Time Warner Cable(2003-09)..445...........10,558.......4.21%
Avon Products...........................66...........10,150.......0.65%
M&T Bank..................................175...........8,962.......1.95%
Forest Labs...............................138............8,691........1.59%
Cendant(1998-2005). ...............118............8,110.......1.45%
Moodys(1999-2009).................741............7,821.......9.47%
L-3 Communications.................241............7,400.......3.26%
Pepsi Bottling............................203............7,055.......2.88%
ITT..............................................16............6,779.......0.24%
Estee Lauder..............................128............6,662.......1.92%
Coach........................................393............6,657.......5.90%
Dover...........................................92...........6,493.......1.42%
Paychex.....................................178...........6,476.......2.75%
Bunge, Ltd(2001-2009).................0............6,252......0.00%
KeySpan......................................246..........5,636.......4.36%
XL Capital, Ltd..............................67...........5,324......1.26%
BlackRock(2004-2009)..............183...........5,212.......3.51%
North Fork Banc(1998-2005).....122...........5,104.......2.39%
Eastman Kodak...........................190...........5,074......3.74%
NY Total for all 45 Corps.....42,291.....1,583,149......2.67%

And below here is a listing of the 15 New York Mid-sized Corps with Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 6 years of at least $2 bil each, but which had Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 12 years of less than $5 bil, and thus weren’t included in the above list of the 45 most profitable, Very Big New York Corps.

..........................................Most Recent Six Years
.........................................State&Local....(PTI).........Effective
..........................................Corporate.......Core......State&Local
...........................................Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate
....Corporations..................Tax Paid.......Income........Paid
.............................................(Millions of Dollars)

Corning...................................(13)..........8,423.........(0.15)%
AOL Inc(2006-2009)..............273..........4,542.........6.01%
Mastercard...............................93...........4,531.........2.05%
Arch Capital Group, Ltd*............5...........3,445.........0.15%
Polo Ralph Lauren..................138...........3,365.........4.10%
CA............................................62...........3,324.........1.87%
Tiffany....................................130...........2,579.........5.04%
NYSE Euronext........................52...........2,504.........2.08%
Starwood Hotels & Resorts.....102...........2,477.........4.12%
Arrow Electronics....................49...........2,412.........2.03%
New York Community Bancorp.39..........2,375.........1.64%
Assurant(2004-2006)................0..........2,288.........0.00%
Constellation Brands...............131...........2,267.........5.78%
National Fuel Gas.....................85...........2,085.........4.08%
NASDAQ OMX Group..............126...........2,020.........6.24%
NY Total for all 15 Corps....1,272........48,637.........2.62%

* Arch Capital Group, Ltd is a Bermuda Corp, but with a New York City external CPA firm.

Now let me take it to the next level of Mid-sized New York publicly-held Corps. Below are the 7 New York Corps with Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 6 years of between $1.5 and $2.0 bil, and which were not already included in the above 45 most profitable, Very Big New York Corps.


...........................................................................................Core
..........................................................................................Pretax
New York Corp(Industry)..........................Headquarters..Income
.....................................................................................(mils of $s)

Transatlantic Holdings(Fire&Casualty Insurance)………..NY..1,965
Henry Schein(Wholesaler Medical Equip&Supplies).Melville..1,951
Broadridge Financial Solutions(Finance).........Lake Success..1,906
Weight Watchers Intl(Personal Services)………………….....NY..1,850
Intl Flavors&Fragrances(Industrial Organic Chemicals).NY..1,732
Jones Group(Women’s Apparel)…………………………........NY..1,601*
Pall Corp(Industrial Machinery&Equipment)………East Hills..1,566

* Excludes Large Asset Impairments

When you review the above three lists of the 67 Big and Mid-sized New York Corps, with only a couple of exceptions, you have to be very impressed with the quality and fine financial performance.

But this strong financial performance is but a drop in the bucket in comparison to what has been going on with US Big Oil and Gas Corps. There has been a massive income shift in the past decade from non-Big Oil and Gas Corps to Big Oil and Gas Corps, which has been devastating to all non-Big Oil and Gas businesses.

To illustrate how this massive income shift in the past decade has applied to New York, there were 33 Very Profitable New York non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps, from the above list of 45, which were in existence for the entire past 12 years. The Total Core Pretax Income for these 33 New York non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps of $175.9 bil for the most recent two years was down 10% from the $194.5 bil earned a decade earlier.

On the other hand, the 35 US Oil and Gas Big Corps, 25 of which are based in Texas, generated Core Pretax Earnings of $373.7 bil for the most recent two years, which was an incredible 712% increase from the $46.0 bil earned a decade earlier. I'm not kidding!

Clearly, it would be wise for the US government to take action that would reverse this horrible income shift trend, which has severely damaged not just more than 95% of US businesses, but has also devastated US individuals, and all of federal, state and local governments. Not only has it resulted in much higher US unemployment, much higher US underemployment, and lower median US wages, but it also has resulted in a substantially higher portion of a family's take-home pay being used to pay for energy costs than that of a decade ago.

I think it only makes sense for the US government to eliminate the many massive tax loopholes that are granted to Big Oil and Gas Corps to reward them for generating these windfall profits. And the money raised here should be given as wise, lucrative tax incentives to all US businesses that effectively reduce their energy costs.

Such a tax plan, is a ten-fer:
.....higher US real GDP growth
.....lower US unemployment
.....lower US underemployment
.....higher US median wages
.....lower portion of take-home pay needed to fund energy costs
.....higher after-tax corporate profits for more than 95% of US businesses
.....significant reduction in the US deficit
.....better State government coffers
.....more competitive US firms
.....and a huge step toward US becoming energy independent

Now on to updating first New Jersey, and then later some other US States in the Eastern Half of the US.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Second Update on California Big Corps Have Paid Modest Amounts of State Corporate Income Taxes

I am updating here my earlier updated post on California Very Big Corps to include all California-based companies, 40 in total, which have Total Core Consolidated Pretax Income of at least $5 bil each for the most recent 12 years, and which also have Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken of at least $200 mil each, at least the way I measure them, in the most recent dozen years.

My definition of Core Pretax Income here excludes very large Asset Impairment Charges, particularly from Goodwill Impairment, and also excludes very large Acquired In Process Research and Development Charges.

Below are the effective state corporate income tax rates paid, which are computed by dividing the current state and local corporate income tax paid by the core consolidated pretax income, both in total for the past twelve years for each of these 40 Big California Corps. These 40 Big California Corps below had a weighted average state corporate effective income tax rate paid for the past twelve years of a modest 2.69%, or a 70% discount to California’s current state corporate income tax rate of 8.84%.

….……………………..........................Current……Core….........State
….……………………............................State..Consolidated..Effective
….……………………............................Tax……….Pretax…….Tax Rate
….……………………............................Paid……..Income……….Paid
….……………….…...........................(millions of dollars)

40. Edison Intl………….....................984……...14,112……..6.97%
39. Google (2002-2009)…………...1,685……..27,244……..6.18%
38. Charles Schwab…......................719……...12,329……..5.83%
37. PG&E………………........................960***…17,050……..5.63%
36. SAIC (1998-2008).....................452..........8,297........5.45%
35. Visa (2003-2009)......................531.......10,120........5.25%
34. Golden West Fincl (1998-2005).596……...11,552……..5.16%
33. Symantec………………………..........266……….5,642*……4.71%
32. First American………………….......237……….5,096……..4.65%
31. Ebay…………………………..............583………12,760*…..4.57%
30. Intuit………………………….............266………..5,996…….4.44%
29. Gilead Sciences….......................529……...12,268*…..4.31%
28. Genentech (1998-2008)…..........721……..17,372*……4.15%
27. GAP………………...........................701……..16,945……..4.14%
26. Safeway……………........................676……..16,536*…...4.09%
25. Sempra Energy…........................484……..12,209……..3.96%
24. Disney…………..........................1,864……..47,950……..3.89%
23. Clorox……………..........................297………..8,296……..3.58%
22. Allergan (1999-2009)……...........189………..5,367*…….3.52%
21. Oracle……….............................2,303….....65,612……...3.51%
20. Apple………..............................1,784……...51,465……..3.47%
19. Cisco Systems….......................2,582…......75,141*…...3.44%
18. Qualcomm……............................776…......25,105……..3.09%
17. Countrywide Fincl(1998-2007)..515…......18,595....….2.77%
16. Franklin Resources.....................390…......14,140……..2.76%
15. Wells Fargo…….........................2,461…...108,550……..2.27%
14. Maxim Integrated Products.........114..........5,442.......2.09%
13. Intel……………............................1,981…...101,986……..1.94%
12. Linear Technology......................104..........5,562.......1.87%
11. Amgen………................................728…….40,300*…….1.81%
10. Chevron…………........................3,057…...211,552……..1.45%
..9. Occidental Petroleum…...............731……..55,238……..1.32%
..8. Computer Sciences(1998-2006)....66……....5,423*……1.22%
..7. Adobe Systems..............................82……....6,741……..1.22%
..6. Applied Materials.........................164……..15,532…....1.06%
..5. Hewlett-Packard..........................642……..66,446……..0.97%
..4. McKesson…………...........................83……….9,448……..0.88%
..3. Mattel…….......................................52………6,529……..0.80%
..2. Unocal(1998-2004).......................46.........6,502........0.71%
..1. Seagate Technology(2001-2009)**..6........5,937*......0.10%

Total all 40………...........................31,407…1,168,387…….2.69%

* Excludes large Asset Impairment Charges, particularly Goodwill Impairment Charges, and/or Acquired In Process Research and Development Charges
** Seagate Technology is presently an Ireland Corp; previously a Cayman Islands Corp; for all years, its CPA firm was based in Silicon Valley, CA
*** Current State Income Paid or Payable for 2004-2009, and both Current and Deferred State Income Tax Expense in 1998-2003

For the most recent year, the weighted state corporate effective income tax rate paid by these Big California Corps was an even lower 2.36%.

The huge Northrop Grumman was not included above, even though it generated a massive $18.240 bil of core pretax income in the past twelve years. Northrop Grumman did not disclose the amounts of state income tax it paid. It passes on these costs to the US Government in its federal contracts.

Yahoo generated Total Pretax Income above $5 bil in the past 12 years. It was not included in the above list of Big Corps, since its Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken were lower than $200 mil.

And then, below here is a summary of what I call a fair measure of the Total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken by each of these 40 Big California Corps for the past twelve years. In estimating what I think is a fair measurement of State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken, for ease of computation, I started by multiplying the current California Corporate Income Tax Rate of 8.84% by the Total Core Consolidated Pretax Income of each Big California Corp for the last twelve years. Then, I subtracted the actual total State and Local Corporate Income Taxes Paid by each of these Corps for the same twelve years.


………………………..........................CA……...........……...Estimated
…………………………………….......Statutory……State……..State Tax
………………….........…..............Corporate…Effective....Loophole
………………….........…………..........Tax……..Tax Rate….....Taken
………………..........…………............Rate……....Paid…....Last 12 Years
…………………………………………………....................(millions of dollars)

..1. Chevron………….......………….8.84%.......1.45%........15,644
..2. Wells Fargo………….........……8.84%......2.27%..........7,135
..3. Intel……………...........……......8.84%......1.94%..........7,035
..4. Hewlett-Packard......………...8.84%.......0.97%.........5,232
..5. Oxy Petroleum……………......8.84%.......1.32%..........4,152
..6. Cisco Systems………..………...8.84%.......3.44%.........4,060
..7. Oracle……………….......……....8.84%.......3.51%..........3,497
..8. Amgen…........…………………..8.84%.......1.81%...........2,835
..9. Apple………………......………...8.84%.......3.47%..........2,766
10. Disney………………………….....8.84%.......3.89%..........2,375
11. Qualcomm…………........……..8.84%.......3.09%..........1,443
12. Applied Materials…....……….8.84%.......1.06%..........1,209
13. Countryside Financial……….8.84%.......2.77%..........1,129
14. Franklin Resources……………8.84%.......2.76%............860
15. Genentech…………………….....8.84%.......4.15%.............815
16. GAP………….......…………….....8.84%.......4.14%.............797
17. Safeway…………………………...8.84%.......4.09%.............786
18. McKesson…………….......……..8.84%......0.88%.............752
19. Google………………......………..8.84%.......6.18%.............723
20. Sempra Energy……………......8.84%.......3.96%.............595
21. Gilead Sciences………………….8.84%.......4.31%.............555
22. PG&E…………………………….....8.84%.......5.63%.............547
23. Ebay………………………………...8.84%.......4.57%.............545
24. Unocal.................................8.84%.......0.71%............529
25. Mattel…………......……………...8.84%.......0.80%.............525
26. Seagate Technology.............8.84%.......0.10%.............519
27. Adobe Systems…………....…..8.84%.......1.22%..............514
28. Clorox……………………………...8.84%.......3.58%.............436
29. Golden West Financial……….8.84%.......5.16%..............425
30. Computer Sciences..............8.84%........1.22%.............413
31. Linear Technology..............8.84%........1.87%.............388
32. Charles Schwab…………………8.84%........5.83%.............371
33. Maxim Integrated Products.8.84%........2.09%.............367
34. Visa.....................................8.84%........5.25%.............364
35. Allergan…………………...........8.84%........3.52%.............285
36. SAIC....................................8.84%........5.45%.............281
37. Intuit…………………….............8.84%........4.44%.............264
38. Edison Intl………………..........8.84%........6.97%.............264
39. Symantec………………….........8.84%........4.71%.............233
40. First American………………….8.84%........4.65%.............213

Total all 40………………………………………71,878 (yeah, $71.9 bil)

For the most recent six years, the estimated total State Corporate Income Tax Loopholes Taken was $52.7 bil, as compared to $71.9 bil for the past twelve years.

And then here’s an updated list of the 41 California Big Corps with Total Core Pretax Income of more than $5 bil for the most recent 12 years. This list is sorted by Pretax Income.

….……………………........................Current……..Core….........State
….……………………..........................State....Consolidated..Effective
….……………………..........................Tax………...Pretax…….Tax Rate
….……………………..........................Paid……....Income……….Paid
….……………….….........................(millions of dollars)

Chevron....................................3,057..........211,552.......1.45%
Wells Fargo................................2,461..........108,550......2.27%
Intel.......................................... 1,981..........101,986.......1.94%
Cisco Systems............................2,582............75,141.......3.44%
Hewlett-Packard...........................642............66,446.......0.97%
Oracle.......................................2,303............65,612.......3.51%
Occidental Petroleum...................731............55,238.......1.32%
Apple........................................1,784............51,465.......3.47%
Disney.......................................1,864............47,950.......3.89%
Amgen.........................................728............40,300.......1.81%
Google.......................................1,685............27,244.......6.18%
Qualcomm....................................776...........25,105.......3.09%
Countrywide Financial..................515............18,595.......2.77%
Genentech....................................721............17,372.......4.15% PG&E............................................960............17,050.......5.63%
GAP..............................................701............16,945.......4.14%
Safeway........................................676............16,536.......4.09%
Applied Materials..........................164............15,532.......1.06%
Franklin Resources.......................390............14,140.......2.76%
Edison International.....................984............14,112.......6.97%
Ebay.............................................583............12,760.......4.57%
Charles Schwab.............................719............12,329.......5.83%
Gilead Sciences.............................529............12,268.......4.31%
Sempra Energy.............................484............12,209.......3.96%
Golden West Financial..................596............11,552.......5.16%
Visa..............................................531............10,120.......5.25%
McKesson......................................83..............9,448.......0.88%
SAIC............................................452..............8,297.......5.45%
Clorox.........................................297..............8,296.......3.58%
Yahoo..........................................554..............7,130.......7.77%
Adobe Systems..............................82..............6,741.......1.22%
Mattel............................................52..............6,529.......0.80%
Unocal...........................................46..............6,502.......0.71%
Intuit...........................................266..............5,996.......4.44%
Seagate Technology.........................6..............5,937.......0.10%
Symantec.....................................266..............5,642.......4.71%
Linear Technology.......................104..............5,562.......1.87%
Maxim Integrated Products..........114..............5,442.......2.09%
Computer Sciences.........................66..............5,423.......1.22%
Allergan.......................................189..............5,367.......3.52%
First American.............................237..............5,096.......4.65%
CA Total for all 41 Corps.......31,961........1,175,517.......2.72%

And below here is a listing of the 15 California Mid-sized Corps with Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 6 years of at least $2 bil each, but which had Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 12 years of less than $5 bil, and thus weren’t included in the above list of the 41 most profitable Very Big California Corps.

..........................................Most Recent Six Years
.........................................State&Local....(PTI).........Effective
..........................................Corporate.......Core......State&Local
...........................................Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate
....Corporations..................Tax Paid.......Income........Paid
.............................................(Millions of Dollars)

DIRECTV................................200...........7,662.........2.61%
Western Digital...........................4...........4,027.........0.10%
DaVita.....................................161...........3,307.........4.87%
Agilent Technologies................83............3,102.........2.68%
Reliance Steel & Aluminum.....122...........2,808.........4.34%
Ross Stores...............................92...........2,644.........3.48%
Juniper Networks.....................90...........2,644.........3.40%
Xilinx........................................24...........2,638.........0.91%
Jacobs Engineering.................109...........2,637.........4.13%
National Semiconductor...........43...........2,470.........1.74%
Lam Research...........................12...........2,428.........0.49%
Varian Medical Systems............72..........2,404.........3.00%
KLA Tencor..............................37...........2,333.........1.59%
Altera.......................................27...........2,112.........1.28%
Robert Half Intl.......................141...........2,069.........6.81%
CA Total for all 16 Corps.....1,217.........45,285.........2.69%

Now let me take it to the next level of Mid-sized California publicly-held Corps. Below are the 15 California Corps with Total Core Pretax Income for the most recent 6 years of between $1.5 and $2.0 bil, and which were not already included in the above 41 Very Big California Corps.

...........................................................................................Core
..........................................................................................Pretax
California Corp(Industry)...........................Headquarters..Income
.....................................................................................(mils of $s)

Ingram Micro(Wholesaler Computer Products)..Santa Ana..1,947*
Autodesk(Computer Software)...........................San Rafael..1,939*
Avery Dennison(Paper Products)........................Pasadena..1,855*
NetApp(Computer Storage Devices)...................Sunnyvale..1,824
Broadcom(Semiconductors)....................................Irvine..1,792*
Nvidia(Semiconductors)...................................Santa Clara..1,734
CB Richard Ellis Group(Real Estate).................Los Angeles..1,715*
Health Net(Medical Service Plans)..............Woodland Hills..1,684*
Levi Strauss(Apparel)...................................San Francisco..1,658
City National(Banking)...................................Beverly Hills..1,650
Watson(Pharmaceuticals).......................................Corona..1,629*
SanDisk(Computer Storage Devices)......................Milpitas..1,616*
CareFusion(Medical Instruments & Apparatus)...San Diego..1,562
URS(Engineering Services)...........................San Francisco..1,561
Dolby Labs(Communications Equipment).....San Francisco..1,551

* Excludes large Asset Impairment Charges and/or Acquired In Process Research and Development Charges

When you review the above three lists of the 71 Big and Mid-sized California Corps, with only a couple of exceptions, you have to be very impressed with the quality and fine financial performance.

But this very strong financial performance is but a drop in the bucket in comparison to what has been going on with US Big Oil and Gas Corps. There has been a massive income shift in the past decade from non-Big Oil and Gas Corps to Big Oil and Gas Corps, which has been devastating to all non-Big Oil and Gas businesses.

To illustrate how this massive income shift in the past decade has applied to California, there were 30 California non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps which were in existence for the entire past 12 years. The Total Core Pretax Income for these 30 California non-Big Oil and Gas Big Corps of $200.1 bil for the most recent two years increased 105% from the $97.4 bil earned a decade earlier, which was a much higher percentage increase than that for nearly any other US State.

On the other hand, the 35 US Oil and Gas Big Corps, 25 of which are based in Texas, generated Core Pretax Earnings of $373.7 bil for the most recent two years, which was an incredible 712% increase from the $46.0 bil earned a decade earlier. I'm not kidding!

Clearly, it would be wise for the US government to take action that would reverse this horrible income shift trend, which has severely damaged not just more than 95% of US businesses, but has also devastated US individuals, and all of federal, state and local governments. Not only has it resulted in much higher US unemployment, much higher US underemployment, and lower median US wages, but it also has resulted in a substantially higher portion of a family's take-home pay being used to pay for energy costs than that of a decade ago.

I think it only makes sense for the US government to eliminate the many massive tax loopholes that are granted to Big Oil and Gas Corps to reward them for generating these windfall profits. And the money raised here should be given as wise, lucrative tax incentives to all US businesses that effectively reduce their energy costs.

Such a tax plan, is a ten-fer:
.....higher US real GDP growth
.....lower US unemployment
.....lower US underemployment
.....higher US median wages
.....lower portion of take-home pay needed to fund energy costs
.....higher after-tax corporate profits for more than 95% of US businesses
.....significant reduction in the US deficit
.....better State government coffers
.....more competitive US firms
.....and a huge step toward US becoming energy independent

Now on to updating New York and the rest of the Eastern Half of the US.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Many Mid-sized Corps in States in Western Half of US Have Paid Modest State Corporate Income Tax

In an earlier post, I summarized the effective State and Local Corporate Income Tax Rates Paid by the 370 Most Profitable US Big Corps, which generated Core Pretax Income in excess of $5 bil each, for the most recent 12 years. I define Core Pretax Income to be exclusive of large Asset Impairment Charges, like ones resulting from the Ceiling Test for Oil and Gas companies, and from Goodwill Impairment for companies in all industries, and also to be exclusive of large Acquired In-Process R&D Charges.

Now I am turning my attention to the effective tax rates for the Medium-sized Corps, which have earned just below that of the very Big, most profitable 370 firms. Thus, I will now be researching here Medium-sized Corps, which I am defining as publicly-held US Corps which generated at least $2 bil in Total Core Pretax Income in the most recent 6 years, and which are not already included in the top most profitable 370 very Big Corps.

I earlier addressed these Medium-sized Corps in the US Big Three States….New York, California and Texas…..,in the 8 Midwest US States, in the 11 Northeast US States, and also in the 12 Southeast US States.

This new research focuses on the 17 States in the Western Half of the US, other than both California and Texas. Here’s a brief summary of my earlier research results for the very Big Corps in these 17 States in the Western Half of the US.

...............................Most Recent Twelve Years................Current
.......................#....State&Local.......................Effective..Statutory
......................of......Corporate........Core......State&Local...State
......................Big......Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate......Tax
.....State........Corps...Tax Paid.......Income........Paid..........Rate
...................................(Millions of Dollars)

Washington....9.........6,168..........324,385.......1.90%...........*
Nebraska........4.........2,209..........152,159.......1.45%.......7.810%
Oklahoma.......4...........387............56,412.......0.69%.......6.000%
Arizona..........4...........732............43,768.......1.67%.......6.968%
Colorado........4...........729............29,940.......2.43%.......4.630%
Oregon...........3...........831.............31,782.......2.61%.......7.900%
Nevada...........2...........221............10,768.......2.05%...........*
Idaho..............1..........356..............8,457.......4.21%.......7.600%
Kansas............1...........352..............7,988.......4.41%.......7.050%
Utah...............1.............53..............5,345.......0.99%.......5.000%
Alaska............0
Hawaii............0
Montana.........0
New Mexico....0
North Dakota..0
South Dakota..0
Wyoming........0
Total West.....33.........12,038........670,994.......1.79%

Below here is a State Summary of my new research for the Medium-sized Corps, with Core Pretax Income (PTI) above $1.7 bil for the most recent 6 years, in these 17 States in the Western Half of the US, other than both California and Texas. I lowered the income threshold here from $2 bil to $1.7 bil, in order to get what I consider to be an adequate data base of these Medium-sized Corps.

...................................Most Recent Six Years
........................# of......State&Local......(PTI).........Effective
......................Medium...Corporate........Core......State&Local
.........................Size........Income.........Pretax.......Tax Rate
....State...........Corps......Tax Paid.......Income..........Paid
........................................(Millions of Dollars)

Colorado............7.............738..........21,150...........3.49%
Arizona..............5.............361...........11,494...........3.14%
Washington........3.............206............8,643...........2.38%
Oklahoma...........4.............206............8,507...........2.42%
Kansas................1...............26............3,919............0.66%
North Dakota......1...............75............2,702...........2.78%
Utah...................1..............186............2,068...........8.99%
Oregon...............1................64............1,827...........3.50%
Total West........23...........1,862..........60,310...........3.09%

And below here are the individual 23 Medium-sized Corps in each of these 17 States in the Western Half of the US, other than both California and Texas:

..........................................Most Recent Six Years
.........................................State&Local....(PTI).........Effective
.........................................Corporate........Core......State&Local
............State.......................Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate
.........Corporations.............Tax Paid.......Income........Paid
.............................................(Millions of Dollars)

Colorado
DISH Network........................185............5,988..........3.09%
Cimarex Holdings....................15............2,943..........0.51%
Liberty Media........................363............2,923........12.42%
Molson Coors Brewing.............27............2,818..........0.96%
Ball Corp.................................73.............2,612..........2.79%
Discovery Communications.....56............2,020..........2.77%
Forest Oil.................................19.............1,846.........1.03%
CO Total for all 7.................738...........21,150..........3.49%

Arizona
Avnet.....................................65............2,737..........2.37%
Republic Services..................101............2,729..........3.70%
Pinnacle West Capital..............88............2,330..........3.78%
Microchip Technology............10............1,856..........0.54%
PetSmart.................................97(3).......1,842..........5.27%
AZ Total for all 5..................361..........11,494..........3.14%

Washington
Amazon.com...........................80(2)........3,882..........2.06%
Expedia...................................74............2,505..........2.95%
Expeditors Intl of Washington..52............2,256..........2.30%
WA Total for all 3.................206............8,643..........2.38%

Oklahoma
Helmerich & Payne...................46............3,025..........1.52%
OGE Energy................................0............1,875..........0.00%
Kerr McGee(2004-05)..............14............1,835..........0.76%
BOK Financial.........................146............1,772..........8.24%
OK Total for all 4..................206............8,507..........2.42%

Kansas
Garmin, Ltd(4)..........................26............3,919..........0.66%

North Dakota
MDU Resources Group.............75............2,702..........2.78%

Utah
Zions Bancorp........................186............2,068..........8.99%

Oregon
Stancorp..................................64(1)........1,827..........3.50%

All Western Half of US....1,862...........60,310.........3.09%

(1) Includes both State Current Income Taxes and State Deferred Income Tax Expense
(2) Includes both State Current Income Taxes and State Deferred Income Tax Expense for 2007-2009, and no state income tax for 2004-2006, since none were disclosed
(3) Includes both State Current Income Taxes and Foreign Income Taxes
(4) Garmin, Ltd is a Cayman Islands Corp, with an SEC mailing address in Kansas, and with an external CPA firm in Kansas City, MO

With so many Houston, Texas Oil and Gas related companies generating such incredibly robust profits, as compared to many companies in many States in the Western Half of the US, it is pretty clear to me that many businesses in many of the States in the Western Half of the US have been severely harmed economically by sky-high energy costs.

My next research will focus more in depth, first on Big Corps and Medium-sized Corps headquartered in California, and then a bit later, more in depth on Big Corps and Medium-sized Corps in States in the Eastern Half of the US.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Many Mid-sized Corps in Southeast US States Have Paid Modest State Corporate Income Tax

In an earlier post, I summarized the effective State and Local Corporate Income Tax Rates Paid by the 370 Most Profitable US Big Corps, which generated Core Pretax Income in excess of $5 bil each for the most recent 12 years. Core Pretax Income is exclusive of large Asset Impairment Charges, like ones resulting from the Ceiling Test for Oil and Gas companies, and from Goodwill Impairment for companies in all industries, and is also exclusive of large Acquired In-Process R&D Charges.

Now I am turning my attention to the effective tax rates for the Medium-sized Corps, which earn just below that of the most profitable, very Big top 370 firms. Thus, I will now be researching here Medium-sized Corps, which I am defining as publicly-held US Corps which generated at least $2 bil in Total Core Pretax Income in the most recent 6 years, and which are not already included in the top 370 very Big Corps.

I earlier addressed these Medium-sized Corps in the US Big Three States….New York, California and Texas…..,in the 8 Midwest US States, and also in the 11 Northeast US States.

This new research focuses on the 12 Southeast US States. Here’s a brief summary of my earlier research results for the very Big Corps in these 12 Southeast US States.

...............................Most Recent Twelve Years................Current
.......................#....State&Local.......................Effective..Statutory
......................of......Corporate........Core......State&Local...State
......................Big......Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate......Tax
.....State........Corps...Tax Paid.......Income........Paid..........Rate
...................................(Millions of Dollars)

North Carolina.13.....12,355........395,255.......3.13%.......6.90%
Georgia............10......8,543........323,370.......2.64%.......6.00%
Arkansas...........4.......5,896........208,554.......2.83%.......6.50%
Virginia.............9.......3,422........132,009.......2.59%.......6.00%
Florida..............7.......1,670..........81,018.......2.06%.......5.50%
Tennessee..........5........1,911..........61,981.......3.08%.......6.50%
Kentucky...........5..........733..........34,562.......2.12%.......6.00%
Louisiana...........3..........413..........30,142.......1.37%.......6.00%
Alabama............3..........496..........21,876.......2.27%.......6.50%
South Carolina...1............73............5,082.......1.44%.......5.00%
Mississippi.........0
West Virginia.....0
Total................60.....35,512.....1,293,849.......2.74%

Below here is a State Summary of my new research for the Medium-sized Corps, with Core Pretax Income (PTI) above $1.7 bil for the most recent 6 years, in these 12 Southeast US States. I lowered the income threshold here from $2 bil to $1.7 bil, since I found a handful of Florida corps with Core Pretax Income just below $2 bil.

...................................Most Recent Six Years
........................# of......State&Local......(PTI).........Effective
......................Medium...Corporate........Core......State&Local
.........................Size........Income.........Pretax.......Tax Rate
....State...........Corps......Tax Paid.......Income..........Paid
........................................(Millions of Dollars)

Florida...............10...........750...........21,662..........3.46%
Georgia................5............202..........12,800..........1.58%
Virginia................4..............71............9,659..........0.74%
Tennessee............4.............191............9,057..........2.11%
Alabama..............3.............176............6,802..........2.59%
Arkansas.............2..............111............3,880..........2.86%
North Carolina.....1.............100............2,438..........4.10%
Louisiana.............1................2.............2,061..........0.10%
Kentucky.............1...............35............1,798..........1.95%
Mississippi...........0
South Carolina.....0
West Virginia.......0
Total..................31..........1,638..........70,157.........2.33%

And below here are the individual 31 Medium-sized Corps in each of these 12 Southeast US States:

........................................Most Recent Six Years
.......................................State&Local....(PTI).........Effective
.......................................Corporate........Core......State&Local
..........State.......................Income.........Pretax......Tax Rate
.......Corporations.............Tax Paid.......Income........Paid
...........................................(Millions of Dollars)

Florida
Harris Corp................................91..........3,333..........2.73%
Darden Restaurants..................144.........3,053..........4.72%
Health Management Associates..77.........2,155..........3.57%
Ryder System.............................40.........2,036..........1.96%
Raymond James Financial..........91..........1,978..........4.60%
Lender Processing Services........91..........1,880..........4.84%
Fidelity National Info Services...91..........1,856..........4.90%
TECO Energy..............................38..........1,835..........2.07%
Roper Industries........................37..........1,794..........2.06%
Office Depot................................50..........1,742..........2.87%
FL Total for all 10.....................750........21,662..........3.46%

Georgia
Invesco, Ltd***(2005-09)........33..........3,775..........0.87%
Mohawk Industries....................64..........2,664..........2.40%
Equifax......................................52..........2,392..........2.17%
AGL Resources..........................48..........2,015..........2.38%
Total System Services..................5..........1,954..........0.26%
GA Total for all 5......................202........12,800..........1.58%

Virginia
Computer Sciences(07-09)..(134)****...2,927........(4.58)%
NII Holdings..............................2..........2,428..........0.08%
Advance Auto Parts.................87..........2,251..........3.86%
Dollar Tree..............................116..........2,053..........5.65%
VA Total for all 4......................71..........9,659..........0.74%

Tennessee
Eastman Chemical......................29..........3,005..........0.97%
King Pharmaceuticals.................33..........2,242..........1.47%
Dollar General............................64..........2,043..........3.13%
Community Health Systems........65..........1,767..........3.68%
TN Total for all 4.......................191..........9,057..........2.11%

Alabama
Vulcan Materials......................122..........2,536..........4.81%
Energen.....................................39..........2,294..........1.70%
Protective Life...........................15..........1,972..........0.76%
AL Total for all 3......................176..........6,802..........2.59%

Arkansas
Tyson Foods............................68*........2,019..........3.37%
JB Hunt Transports..................43..........1,861..........2.31%
AR Total for both....................111..........3,880..........2.86%

North Carolina
Family Dollar Stores...............100..........2,438..........4.10%

Louisiana
Tidewater....................................2..........2,061..........0.10%

Kentucky
Omnicare...................................35**.......1,798..........1.95%

Southeast Total for all 31..1,638.......70,157.........2.33%

* Includes both State Current Income Taxes and State Deferred Income Tax Expense
** Includes both State Current Income Taxes and State Deferred Income Tax Expense for 2008 and 2009
*** Invesco, Ltd is a Bermuda Corp, with an SEC location code in Georgia
**** Includes adjustments for uncertain tax positions

With so many Houston, Texas Oil and Gas related companies generating such incredibly robust profits, as compared to companies in the Southeast US, it is pretty clear to me that nearly all businesses in the US Southeastern States have been severely harmed economically by sky-high energy costs.